O Jardim da Esperança

30 minutes away from Copacabana, Jardim Gramacho, a true ecological wound, used to be South America's largest open air landfill. Before shutting down, families of the workers belonging to the community lived precariously but fittingly by hand-picking garbage. As a promise of a better tomorrow, the closing was supposed to give them a new life away from the dump. Socially excluded and forgotten, they still have their own lives beyond the waste accumulated over the past 40 years. Without resources, without jobs, living from day to day, their lives are worse than ever. Dignity is their last wall against misery today. The camera gives them a stand where their voices can be heard. They recall the closing down, when trash was their bread job. Starting today, the present and future belongs to the children. Few of them, one by one, fitted with professional cameras, will reveal their pictures, their reality, their joy of living, and their hopes.